To relieve Boredom
by illustriousopaline
Summary: Fuji decides to sign the Regulars up for Opal's Grooming Session! What are the Regulars going to do?
1. What's that Poster?

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing  
**A/N:** italics means thoughts or emphasis on that particular word. I trust that you will know when is which ;)

* * *

_Saa, another boring day_… Fuji thought as he continued gazing out of the window. This whole week had been quite uneventful despite his energetic teammates; Inui had not been coming with new juices fast enough, Momo and Kaidoh did not quarrel enough, even Eiji seemed to be distracted by something. 

Fuji glanced at the subject of his thoughts and found the red head bending studiously over his open textbook – the very picture of an attentive student. Smirking a little, Fuji knew that his best friend could never be that attentive during lessons, even when it was his favorite Japanese history classes. He tore a little piece of paper and scribbled something on it before crushing it up into a little ball and placed it on his desk.

_Hmm, back to his thoughts, what could Eiji be distracted with?_ A few random things ran through the tensai's mind before he decided confidently. _Relationships – 95.3 percent. Whoa, all those hanging out with Inui had made Fuji sound like Inui himself_. 78 percent of the outsiders will think that they (Fuji and Inui) were a couple, (A/N: Heh, got you!) but Fuji had only recently started hanging out with the Data-man because of…

"Kikumaru, please answer page number 253, question exercise part b."

With his usual grace, Fuji flicked the paper ball onto Eiji's table and was rewarded with a grateful smile. The tensai smiled back and looked out of the window again. Now, that sixth sense of his told him something interesting was going to happen.

"Eh, the answer to the question… is… time to pay atten…" Gales of laughter drowned the rest of Eiji's (wrong) answer.

"Kikumaru, I would _really_ prefer you to pay attention to the class instead of daydreaming."

Fuji could feel the death glare on him, no, make that death glares; since both the sensei and Eiji were glaring at him – for daydreaming and sabotaging respectively. Fuji turned and gave Eiji an innocent smile, but was returned with a cold glare. Feeling a little hurt, the troublemaker turned and shrugged at the teacher, "The answer is 37 tan 2..."

The teacher gaped, flicked through the Sensei's answer booklet and gasped. He had actually only taught until page 184, but he had been so irritated with the class's inattentiveness that he had chose a what-he-thought-was-an-impossible-question for them to answer. _0.1 percent chances of expecting the correct answer, 89 percent of being shocked to silence and 98.6 percentthat Inui is a bad influence, _Fuji thought smugly.

The teacher, meanwhile, was quite traumatized; should he reprimand Fuji for daydreaming in class? Should he reprimand Fuji for answering when he was not asked? Should he reprimand Fuji for giving the correct answer – was that _even_ possible? Luckily, the bell rang for the end of the lesson. He quickly gathered up his books and fairly dashed out of the classroom. Lesson learnt - _Never cross a Fuji_.

Eiji, still fuming over the dirty trick that Fuji played on him, dumped everything in his bag, grabbed his bento and rushed out of the class. Fuji sighed and wondered just how many minutes would pass before Eiji would finally forgive him. Absorbed in his own thoughts as he packed his things, the tensai did not notice the paper ball flying towards him till it was too late. Bouncing lightly off his glossy brown locks, he looked up to see the red head waiting impatiently for him.

"Nyah Fujiiii, how long are you going to mope over there? I'm hungry and I heard O'chibi has got lots of cakes from his fan girls nyah! I want to have my share before that Momo eat everything!"

_Well, guess his earlier calculations was slightly off, make that seconds instead of minutes, looked like it would take some practice to reach Inui's level of expertise._ (A/N: All this mentioning of Inui in Fuji's thoughts might just increase the probability of readers thinking they were an item to 81.3 percent instead of 78 percent.) Fuji smiled serenely and followed his best friend to the canteen.

_Maybe it was a bad idea_, Fuji thought as he looked at the way Momo and Eiji were gobbling down the cakes. He picked daintily at his spicy lunch, trying to hide a twitch as a mouthful of crumbs was sprayed across the tabletop when that greedy pair were arguing for a piece of cake.

_One would think that they went without food for days,_ Fuji thought as he played around with his food a little, ignoring the nudging and giggling. "Hey Fuji-sempai!" a mouthful of crumbs sprinkled onto the tensai's lunch, another twitch. With limited patience, he looked up at the culprit, determined to scare the beep out of him by showing his sapphire eyes and…

"Fuji-sempai, would you…eh… like seafood?" Momo asked in halting English. Eiji giggled a little while Echizen looked away at somewhere else muttering his trade phrase.

Surprised by the weird question, Fuji raised a delicate eyebrow. There must be something weird when Momo tried to speak in a language he was poor at, let alone the intensity of Eiji's staring. Before Fuji could react, he was greeted with two open mouths full of food.

"Ahhh! See food! Muahahaha" the ridiculous pair exchanged a high-five while Echizen and Fuji both lost their appetites, not to mention greatly embarrassed as many people were staring at them. Both of them looked wordlessly at each other and then away while the bottomless pits started munching on the cakes again. Never was Fuji so relieved when lunch break was over, making a mental note not to follow Eiji to any food spree, he pulled the overly-bloated Kikumaru along.

"Nyah… I think I ate a little too much Fuji… I don't feel well." Fuji was hardly sympathetic as he recalled the number of cakes Eiji cramped down. _Okay, maybe a little; scratch hardly_, he relent the tiniest bit as he saw Kikumaru's adorable pout… "I take you to the nurse."

After depositing Eiji at the sickbay, he strolled back to class, pretending not to notice the way girls swerved round to ogle at him. However, pretending not to notice the way _boys_ were ogling at him was not a very easy task. Hence, the person-whom-so-many-people-were-admiring turned his attention to the notice boards along the corridors.

That was when a particular poster caught his attention. His smile grew wider as he took in the details. Humming a little, he walked off briskly to his classroom, never noticing how the girls immediately swarmed to where he was previously standing, looking at that poster.

"Opal's Grooming Session"

* * *

What will happen next?  
Will Fuji hatch some weird plans to relieve his boredom?  
If so, how would he entertain himself?  
What does Opal's Grooming Session got to do with this?  
What is distracting Eiji?

Reviews appreciated


	2. The Announcement

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing  
**A/N:** italics means thoughts or emphasis on that particular word. I trust that you will know when is which ;)  
**Warnings:** Some couple hints. and a little OCC - especially for Ryoma.

* * *

Ryoma gave his cap a final tug, took his racket and ambled towards the courts. Rapid footsteps were heard from behind him. _Oh no_, Ryoma groaned as a pair of arms half strangled him and knocked his cap askew. "Itai, Kikumaru-sempai. Let me go." A scowl and a futile attempt to wiggle free from the death grip. 

"Hoi chibi! Saankyu for the cakes earlier on nyah, even though I have quite a tummy ache after that!"

Ryoma looked at the red head that was bouncing about and smirked. "That's because you ate too much." Ignoring Eiji's wails about Ryoma being mean, he glanced at the other sempai who had eaten just as much – Momoshiro. _Hmm? Weird, I could have sworn that glutton was swinging his racket at that spot a moment ago. Why, I was even walking to his direction to throw a sarcastic remark about his swing._ Calmly, Ryoma looked around for his sempai without trying to be obvious. _Why? Because I would hear no end of it if the word gets out that I have actually a spark of caring-ness in me._

Ryoma half-shuddered at the thought of Horio proclaiming, "As I've said before, with my 2 years of experience in tennis, I know what is going through tennis players' minds! In Echizen's case, he is worried about Momo-chan-sempai! Hehe, my 2 years of experience never fails me!" Lost in thoughts, he never noticed he was surrounded… by the two bottomless pits. One glomped Ryoma, while the other poked his cheek.

"Ne, Echizen, looking for me? Hehehe!" Momoshiro stooped to ask whilst poking the shorter boy's cheek. Having enough of this madness, Ryoma was just about to explode.

"Kikumaru, Momoshiro, 30 laps!"

Ryoma heaved a sigh of relief and smirked at his sempais. Tugging on his cap, he knew what would provoke those two most… "Mada mada dane". He took his red racket and went off to get his new practice schedule from that creepy Inui-sempai who was supervising over Kaidoh.

"Ano, where's Fujiko?" Kawamara asked, rubbing the back of his head a little, "We were erm…supposed to practice our doubles today…" He looked around sheepishly, as Ryoma shrugged and studied his schedule.

Inui took out his green notebook, flipped to a certain page and proclaimed, "Being trapped by fan girls and boys- 18.45 percent. Calling his little brother Yuuta – 69 percent. Going to cause or causing trouble- 87 percent." Shutting his notebook close before the inquisitive Eiji could peek over Inui's shoulders.

"Fshuuu…" Kaidoh was quite glad of the interruption although, as a rule, he hated having his training sessions to be disrupted. However, Inui's attention was a tad too intense for his liking. He walked a little way off, continued practicing his swings while keeping a ear open for the conversation.

Pouting a little at the failure to peep, the red head waved his arms about, "I saw Fuji walking towards the sensei's office! Aaa, maybe he's going to apologize to our Mathematics teacher or something!"

"Che." The regulars turned around to see their stern buchou with his arms crossed looking at them. "Socializing? Everyone, 20 laps!"

"NANI!" Eiji and Momoshiro, having finished their thirty laps a few minutes ago, were exhausted (Momoshiro was just too winded to argue with that Mamushi. If only he had a few more minutes to rest…) and they need to run another twenty laps? Does Kami hate them that much? Where did all the justice go? Both of them were still grumbling in their hearts when Oishi jogged over.

"Eh, Tezuka, don't you think you should be more lenient to Eiji and Momoshiro? After all, they just finished 30 laps. Now you want them to run another 20 laps, which will make it 50 laps. What if they get too tired? When one is too tired, his resistance to illness will drop. So when it drops, he will become more vulnerable to germs and bacteria. So, …"

"Kikumaru, Momoshiro, 10 laps" _Oishi worried too much for his own good sometimes_, Tezuka hid a twitch of his left eyebrow; _thank Kami that I managed to cut in when he takes a breath_. With that, he glared at the two tired boys who dragged their feet off.

"Saa… someone having PMS?"

Oishi turned his worried gaze over to the newcomer while Tezuka (being Tezuka) remained motionless. "Oishi, help the freshmen with their swings." Taking a hint from the buchou, Oishi went off (clucking like a mother hen) to assist the freshmen.

After waiting Oishi to be out of earshot, Fuji asked Tezuka, "Saa… aren't you going to ask where your koi went?" A light giggle brushed Tezuka's stiffened shoulders gently, _almost_ lovingly. Keeping his mask in place perfectly, the buchou replied with a curt no. A momentary display of disappointment showed on Fuji's face before it was replaced with his practiced smile as he stood beside Tezuka to watch the regulars finishing their laps.

"How come Fuji-sempai always doesn't get punished?" Momoshiro whispered to Ryoma out of the side of his mouth. The younger boy frowned, inched away a little and pointed out the fact that Oishi didn't get punished either.

Momoshiro, not noticing Ryoma's movements, leaned towards him, "Demo Oishi is fukubuchou! This is unfair! Fuji-sempai should be punished for being late! Just because Fuji-sempai is more good looking than me…" _that's true, _Ryoma stared up at his sempai who was leaning closer and closer without realizing it, _and a better tennis player, you are still mada mada_. Ryoma thought with a smirk. "…overall, I still think you are cuter, Echizen." _Yup, that's about right. What? Did Momo just say I am cute? _Ryoma hid his slightly red face underneath the shadow of his cap.

"Daijobou desu ka? Are you blushing, Echizen? Muahahaha!"

"Get lost baka Momo-sempai. You smell." Ryoma gave the perspiring boy a shove in the opposite direction.

"Oi, although you look like a rose doesn't mean you smell like one yourself Echizen!"

"Nani? O'chibi look like a rose?" Several pairs of eyes turned to look at Ryoma, who was still slightly red. "Nyah, did O'chibi apply too much blusher? Hahaha!" Ryoma blushed a little more as everyone laughed (saved for ice Tezuka.)

" Hmmm, an excessive amount of makeup? Saa…this seems to be an excellent time to tell you some good news," the ever-so-angelic-looking tensai said. All the regulars looked at him, feeling worried; the only good news from Fuji is no news at all.

The sapphire eyes widen. "I have signed the regulars up for Opal's Grooming Session."

Various outbursts of reactions met the news. Everyone on the courts turned to look at the Regulars. Oishi, feeling worried that something was wrong, jogged over again.

_(A/N: Time to guess who's who!)_

"Hmmm. I heard that less than 0.5 percent of the school cohort has heard of that session. A surprising idea, but nevertheless, it might be a good place to collect some ii data."

"Fshuuu, I'm not going. I have training."

"……mada mada. I'm not going either."

"Ano, Fujiko, I ..eh, don't think…it's a good idea. I need to help…my father"

"NANI? Grooming session? I don't need it! Hmm, maybe I could get a few tips on some new hair styling methods instead of just spikes…."

"A grooming session? Ah, maybe it will be good that we care for our appearances too…"

"because we are going to Nationals, and we will be on TV nyah!"

"………"

Fuji smiled at his fellow teammates, "There's no way you are not going. I had paid the registration fees and it is not refundable. Besides, those not going will have to drink Inui's Special Spicy Fuji Tea Remix, Version 2.1. I have several jars of them in my cupboard" Mutterings of not drinking that mysterious concoction were heard all over. Fuji just smiled sweetly and continued, "Of course, you won't know that you will be drinking it. It could be .. err.. accidentally…poured into your food and drinks." Everyone paled slightly at this ominous threat.

Guess it was safer to turn up for the grooming session. Besides, since Inui had said that very few people heard of the workshop, so how embarrassing could it be when most likely only the Regulars will be there? Furthermore, one short session was better than a long term fear of drinking something bad like Spicy Fuji Tea Remix.

"When would that be?"

"This Saturday."

* * *

Gomen if it seems a bit messy about the thoughts and speech mixing part. _(The part where Momo is talking and Echizen is thinking etc.)_

Will the Regulars turn up for the workshop?  
What will happen next?  
Will there be more couple hints?

Thanks for reviewing :)


	3. The day before Saturday

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing  
**A/N:** italics means thoughts or emphasis on that particular word. I trust that you will know when is which ;) Saankyu for your reviews :)  
**Warnings:** OCC-ness.

* * *

(Kaidoh)

Kaidoh was not pleased when he was jogging along the river. Tomorrow… he had to sacrifice half a day of training just for a grooming course. _Fusuuuh, that baka might want some tips for hairstyling but not me_, Kaidoh had confidence in his fashion sense – when it comes to bandanas, that is. He could not combine tomorrow's training with today's. _Inui-sempai might give me a lecture on why I must not overwork my muscles and some weird juice as a punishment_. (A/N: Insert Kaidoh quivering with fright here) _Fusuuuh, maybe Inui-sempai has some ideas on how to train while sitting throughout the session_. Hissing slightly, he jogged over to his sempai's house.

(Kawamara)

"Ano, gomen Father, I can't help you tomorrow morning. But I promise I would work doubly hard after I come back. Ahh…you see, Fujiko signed us up for a course and all of us have to go…" Kawamara explained awkwardly, feeling terribly guilty of not being able to help his father to carry the goods the next morning. His father laughed and patted his son's arm.

"It's all right son. Go to where you should be."

(Momoshiro)

"Double the amount please"

Momoshiro looked down at his kouhai, exclaiming "Oi Echizen, are you sure you can eat that much? Don't overstuff yourself; it's no good for your health, no good at all."

"Mada mada," Ryoma took his tray of food and went off.

"Oi Echizen! You haven't pay!" _Gheeze, eating off me again_. Momoshiro could not help but smile rather fondly at his kouhai. As they were eating, Momoshiro casted his mind around for some chat topics other than tennis. It was not an easy task since Echizen was as talkative as buchou. Momoshiro laughed inwardly at the mental image of Echizen wearing a pair of steel-rimmed spectacles and crossing his arms. _No, that style don't suit Echizen, not at all. Speaking of style…_

"Hmmm, I wonder what they will teach during tomorrow's session. Should I spike my hair or not? They might ask me as their model for hairstyling. It won't be cool if my hair is too hard, not cool at all…"

(Echizen)

Ryoma munched on his cheeseburger, closing his ears to his sempai's ramblings. He did not care much for the workshop and saw no need to waste any energy thinking over it. Just that, he had been looking forward to a longer sleeping time curled up with Karupin, and now something disrupted the plan. _Maybe I could be late, saying I was helping a pregnant woman to the hospital or a blind man crossing the roads. Hmm… or maybe it would be better to arrive on time for once_, he could not face a jar of Spicy Fuji Tea Remix on a morning.

(Inui)

"Opal – It was said that the owner loves that particular gemstone, hence calling it Opal Company & Co. The company itself was started in 1998 and currently has 154 employees, which had increased about 34 percent as compared to year 2003. It has good financial status and is recommended as one of the top few grooming companies. Its competitors include …"

Kaidoh wondered if he had made a mistake in coming to consult his sempai. He had just wanted to ask what exercise he could do during the workshop and Inui-sempai was pouring out information about the company itself. Kaidoh could not bring himself to interrupt his sempai's recitation, so he sat down on the floor and waited.

about an hour later

"Anyway, for tomorrow, it is better for you to rest your body. You have been overworking yourself again. Maybe I could think up a formula for strengthening your body just for you."

Kaidoh had fallen asleep unwittingly and was nodding slightly in his sleep. Inui smiled his sinister smile. He could that for a yes and went ahead working out with the formula. _Ahh, I must not forget to prepare a new notebook since tomorrow will be a good day for some ii data._

(Eiji)

"Nyah, Oishi! Do you think they would give out free stuff? I hope they will have some samples of toothpaste! After all, a bright smile is an important thing to the beauty package ne?" Eiji tried to catch some drops of the melting ice cream with his tongue. _Hmmm, I will need to brush my teeth an hour later; I wonder which toothpaste should I use? Will there be any chance of dropping by the pet store later? _

(Oishi)

Oishi glanced at the red head and smiled. That was typical of Eiji. He was happy as long as the Regulars would enjoy themselves tomorrow. _Well, at least if we went, we don't have to fear drinking anything._

(Fuji)

_Saa…should I use my mini-camera or digital one? This is tough_. Fuji hummed happily to himself as he cleaned the lenses of the various cameras laid out on the futon. _Tomorrow will be a good day. I wonder what the rest are doing now… maybe I should give Yuuta a ring and ask him out tomorrow too. Ah, I mustn't forget the delicious tea, just in case someone's absent or late. It will be fun to watch them squirm and the fun's doubled when they realized their expressions were taken by my handy camera._

Fuji was almost doubled up with glee with his thoughts. He could not wait for tomorrow to come. _Why does time crawl when you are looking forward to something?_ He tried calling Yuuta's cell phone but no one answered. Fuji frowned, _it must be that purple hippopotamus taking up all my adorable little brother's time_. Just for fun, he called Tezuka's cell phone but no one answered either. Fuji heaved a sigh, leaving with no choice; he went to admire his cactus.

(Yuuta)

When Yuuta went back to his dorm after a two-hour tennis practice match with Mizuki-san, he found his (forgotten) cell phone on the desk. He glanced at the little screen before taking out some clean clothes, he could not believe his eyes. He gulped and looked at the screen again.

133 missed calls.

(Tezuka)

"…" He looked at his ringing cell phone. Fuji… Tezuka stood up and gathered his toiletries and prepared for the night.

* * *

Hehe, the next will **finally** be Saturday. Reviews please? It makes me happy! lol... 


	4. Saturday!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing  
**A/N:** _italics_ means thoughts or emphasis on that particular word. I trust that you will know when is which ;) Saankyu for your reviews again :)  
**Warnings:** OCC-ness.

* * *

"Moshi moshi?" _Mou, who is this calling at such an hour! Well, at least the telephone is near the kitchen…_ Momoshiro had dashed to answer the telephone on its first ring. He did not want to wake his family up, _It wouldn't be good if oka-san find me looting the refrigerator again, not good at all!_

"Saa, gomen Momoshiro, for calling so late"

"Ahh! Fuji-sempai! It's all right really!" Momoshiro lied through his teeth. It would be unwise to cross Fuji-sempai, Momoshiro thought with a shiver as he recalled the tensai saying he loved to see people suffer. _Who knows what he would do if I say he's a baka to call so late? Can't he call earlier instead of one in the morning?_

"Saa…We will be meeting at eight tomorrow morning in front of the gate. Dress casual. Lateness will be greeted with my tea." Momoshiro groaned out loud at the mental image of a pitcher of Fuji Tea. "Please call Echizen to inform him…and, Momoshiro? I know what you are thinking just now. Watch your back ne? Ja."

Momoshiro trembled at the iciness of Fuji's voice, feeling he could never get warm again. _Did I speak out loud?_ Momoshiro smacked his forehead and went to hide himself in hisbed, forgetting all about his mid-night snack … and calling Echizen.

* * *

"Inui-sempai? Fushuu, it is very late." Kaidoh answered with a frown, wondering what his sempai was up to now. 

"Kaidoh. I have important information for you. Do you want to hear it?"

"Fushhuu." Kaidoh picked at the hem of his pajamas (pale green with polka snakes) nervously. He was very reluctant to hear what the information was. _The last time was him telling me that…fushhuu…pale green boxers suit me better than my standard orange boxers!_

A soft chuckle over the line and tapping sounds on the keyboard in the background. Kaidoh frowned more and demanded for the important information. "Ahh, I will exchange the information for the size of your boxers. Not that I don't know, but I would just like to confirm. Heh." Kaidoh squirmed, determined not to tell his sempai. "Hmmm? Not telling me? Stubbornness… Ah, anyway I'm just asking you to meet me at eight tomorrow. The gate. Dress casual. Good night Kaidoh."

_A date! _(A/N: I believe Kaidoh misheard the gate.)

* * *

Fuji smiled, recalling the number of times he had called Yuuta. That trick would not work on his buchou. Tezuka had switched off his cell phone and nobody knows his house number. 

Fuji shrugged, and went to call the rest of the team. (Actually only Kawamura and Eiji, because Eiji will call Oishi.)

* * *

"Thump!" "Itai…" Momoshiro rubbed his back, wincing. _What luck to fall off the bed._ He looked at his alarm clock. _Six forty-five, still a few more hours of sleep since it's Saturday… _Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he climbed back onto his bed. _Chotto! Saturday?__AH! We are supposed to meet at eight!_

It was only when he was combing his hair, did he remember that he had forgotten to inform Ryoma. Forty more minutes. Will they be able to make it in time?

* * *

Eiji yawned and slumped onto Oishi, who was also looking slightly sleepy. Inui was standing a few steps away, scribbling at his notebook and glancing at the Golden Pair once in a while, muttering something like "Ii data…". Kawamura fidgeted a little, straightening his favorite yellow tee-shirt with the glittery word "Fiery" splashed across his broad chest. 

"Hmm, it's eight" Inui observed.

Right on the cue, the four regulars could see Kaidoh jogging towards them from the left. A slight commotion was then heard on the right; they turned and see Momoshiro riding his bike at breakneck speed, with Echizen clinging onto his sempai for his life.

"Ii data. Momoshiro had learnt to wake Echizen within a few minutes."

(A/N: Pass the sweatdrops around)

"Saa… now everyone's here. Let's go."

The regulars jumped slightly at Fuji's sudden appearance but did not bother to question how he had done it. Oishi frowned, "What about Tezuka?"

"Can't contact him."

Eiji, Momoshiro and Ryoma snickered at the thought of their buchou drinking the spicy tea. Inui was, again, busy scribbling while Kaidoh and Kawamura walked through the gate of their school.

"Where are you going?" Surprised, that two turned to look at Fuji.

"Fushhuu. To attend the workshop, Fuji-sempai."

"Saa, I am a little hungry, why don't we go for breakfast first? I know you missed your breakfast in order to get here in time." A sweet smile graced the tensai's lips.

"Hn, fine with me." Hands in his pockets, Ryoma turned and walked off with his nose in the air. Obviously, he was still quite pissed with waking up so early.

* * *

"Nani!" 

"You told us to meet so early because you want to have breakfast with us?"

"That's mean nyah!"

"100 percent Fuji-ness"

"Fushhuuu…"

"Ano… I could have made some sushi for us…"

Fuji just smiled, "Ahh, I thought it would help to build teamwork and don't wish to trouble you Taka-san. Besides, having breakfast at home without Yuuta is lonely."

The regulars had nothing to retort until…

"So what time is the workshop, Fuji-sempai?"

"Saa…Eleven."

"!"

* * *

The regulars made their way back to school after a heavy breakfast where Momoshiro, Kaidoh and Ryoma fought for the title of "Biggest Eater". Momoshiro won. 

"Ne, O'Chibi sure eats a lot for someone his size nyah!"

"Hn" the freshman endured silently as his sempai poked at his cheek for the umpteen times within the last hour.

All the teasing and joking stopped as the regulars saw who was standing at the gates.

"Buchou!"

"Saa… didn't you switch off your phone? How did you know the time?"

"I saw the poster."

* * *

Is writing about the workshop now! (**Finally**) Ahh, reviews ne? 


	5. Masterpieces?

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing  
**Warnings:** OCC-ness and mild language.  
**A/N:** _italics_ means thoughts or emphasis on that particular word. I trust that you will know when is which ;)  
Cheers for all your reviews and alerts. They had motivated me to continue writing D and sorry for the late update... was busy and still is busy with projects that my cruel lecturers piled on us.  
...**Yuki**... is someone i made up...

* * *

"I saw the poster." 

"………"

Eiji nudged Momoshiro; both of them were expecting Fuji to dish out a jar of Spicy Fuji Tea to their buchou. Much to their disappointment, Fuji did not say anything about the punishment for being late.

"Ah, let's go then."

Feeling like toddlers who got theircandies snatched away, Eiji and Momoshiro were whispering furiously between themselves while Ryoma tagged along behind them, with his hands supporting the back of his head, deep in thoughts. _Why wasn't buchou punished? He was late… wait… he didn't know we were meeting early. Shit…Fuji-sempai did tell us not to be late. But late for what? His breakfast meeting? Or the workshop?_ Sighing, Ryoma somehow guessed why Tezuka was not punished; He was not late for the workshop.

They followed Fuji to one of the largest classroom.

"Che." Everyone stopped and looked at their buchou, wondering what was wrong. "This is not the location they stated on the poster." Everyone turned to look at Fuji.

Fuji just shrugged his slim shoulders, "Saa, they called me last night to tell me that they changed the location. Now, shall we proceed?" Fuji opened the door and waved them in. Kawamaru and Echizen taking the lead, followed by Momoshiro and Eiji, then Oishi, Kaidoh and Inui, lastly Tezuka who shot Fuji a warning glance.

They chose a middle row and settled themselves down while waiting for the instructors to come. "Mou, they are late nyah!" Fuji smiled, excused himself and went out of the room before anyone could ask him where he was going.

Suspicious, Tezuka got up silently and walked over to the door only to find it locked. Tezuka frowned a little, _what could Fuji be up to now…we must keep our guards up. Should I tell the regulars? Hmmm… I don't want to worry them, yet I need to tell them to be careful._

Before our stoic buchou could finish his train of thoughts, the door opened again and Fuji came in carrying six large pitchers of… something. Kawamaru rushed forward to help but Fuji declined with a particularly sweet smile, "Saa, thank you Taka-san. Demo I can handle this by my own. We wouldn't like to spill any of this nice tea, would we?"

A sudden horrified silence filled the room as the Regulars realized what the pitchers contained. Fuji busied himself by placing the pitchers on the table, _Saa…Let's see who's going to be the lucky ones! All those hanging out with Inui had finally paid off… no one can hide anything from a Fuji, let alone a recipe. _Smiling to himself, he produced several tall glasses out of nowhere and set about polishing them, not taking any notice of the rest.

The Regulars continued gaping at the greenish-brown tea, which was _smoking_ slightly if one looked carefully. The silence was only broken by…

"Ii data. Fuji's strength increased by 0.3 percent."

"Fusuuh. How do you know that, sempai?"

"Ahh, Fuji used to carry only 36.25 kg without breaking a sweat. What he carried just now weigh at least 37.35 kg. Furthermore he had taken more steps than during the weight training."

All a sudden, the rest of the regulars (except Tezuka and Fuji; Fuji was still happily polishing) gathered around the Data-man, clamoring to know their strength. "Inui-sempai, surely I am the strongest!"

"Fusuuuh, baka. Your brains musthave beeneaten by your stomach too. You are not the only powerhouse in our team."

"Nani, Mamushi? You want a piece of me!"

"Fusuuuh!"

"Mada mada, we will outgrow your data soon, Inui-sempai."

"Nyah? Oishi is stronger than me?" Eiji sat back down, sulking while his double partner tried to comfort him by telling him that his reflexes were the best even though his strength was not. Eiji pouted a little before turning all sunshine and chatty again.

"Ano…Fujiko, are you sure? They looked really nasty..."

"Mou, it's really all right. The slight smoke might be because I added 30 percent more of the ingredients recommended…."

"…. What are they?" Tezuka just could not resist asking, he feared for his teammates' lives.

The tensai looked at his watch and clapped his hands for attention. "Now everyone, please settle down. The instructors are coming soon." Tezuka's eyebrow twitched a little as his question went ignored; nevertheless, he went to take a seat.

"Oh, by the way, since everyone's present and no one is late… I don't wish to waste the tea. I can't possibly finish all by myself so I thought I would share." A sweet smile while the rest shuddered. "So now, we the Regulars will do whatever the instructor asks. Those who disobey will have to drink the tea." The rest were dismayed, yet somehow, they were expecting it.

_(Additional Information: Seating position: Momoshiro, Echizen, Eiji, Oishi, Tezuka, Inui, Kaidoh, Kawamura, Fuji)_

Footsteps and giggles could be heard approaching the door and all the regulars tensed a little. All eyes were on the door, wondering how the instructors would look like. The door opened…

"Eeek! There's Tezuka! Is my hair messy? They are really here!"

(A/N: Insert other fangirls' screeching here)

Tezuka glared at Inui who was sitting to his right, "Explain this. You said less than 0.5 percent of the school cohort."

"Fusuuuh, seems more than 50 percent had heard of it."

"Eh, to be precise, I believe that about 70 percent of the girls are here. However, according to my previous data, this seems illogical. The previous time the workshop was held, only 11 students went."

"Hehe, must be me, Momo-chan's charm then! Ne Echizen?"

"Mada mada, Momo-sempai. Why did all these girls come later than us?"

"Saa… I wonder why indeed."

Amid all the sudden chaos, Oishi was blushing furiously, quite unable to fend off the fan girls who had appeared in front of him, demanding for his autograph. Meanwhile, Eiji was busy chatting with some girls from his class who had chosen their seats behind him. "Nyah? The workshop starts at 12?"

"Yup! And to think we came early by half an hour too! We thought you guys would come late!"

All the regulars turned to look at the culprit again. Fuji seemed to be recalling, tapping a slender finger on his chin. "Ah, I forgot about the part where I edited the time on the poster. I think I must have gone to edit it after I registered us. Well, not that it makes any difference since we're all here."

"Demo Fuji-sempai, you made us wake up 3 hours earlier!"

Before the regulars could make a scene, a lady dressed in elegant black with a white lab coat stepped in. She stood at the doorway, cleared her throat for attention "Ahem, now... could all the lovely boys and girls please take a seat?"

(A/N: Let's have a guess at who is the instructor!)

She walked towards the front of the classroom, taking in all the faces before her and the weird-looking drinks. Spotting a few promising faces among the crowd, she spread her well-toned arms wide and announced smilingly, "Now, shall we begin? At the end of this course, you might just become my masterpieces!"

"Masterpieces?"

"Yes, that's right. I, Hanamura Aoi, will assist you in your journey to become a masterpiece! Youmay call me Hanamura-_sensei_. Now, settle down my lovelies and we will begin."

"The overview of this session… we will first touch on our crowning glory. Next, the various parts of our face, the skin, the dressing and lastly the posture."

"Unfortunately, my assistant had called in sick today and we are missing a model. Moreover, I would like this session to be interactive, so I would like to suggest you students to act asmy models for each part of the session. Is that all right?"

A chorus of enthusiastic "Hai" and a few shifty looks greeted the proposition. Tezuka glanced at Fuji, wondering if he had anything to do with the assistant falling sick today.

"Good, let us put our best foot forward. Now, I think I need 3 models for the first part of our session –our hair. Any volunteers?"

Hanamura-sensei looked around, searching for various lengths of hair. Momoshiro who had wanted to get some tips for hairstyling, waved his hand about. "Ahh, we got 1 volunteer… 2... Now we have short hair and long hair. How about shoulder length? Maybe _you_? Now, will the 3 of you please come up to the front?"

Cheers greeted the 3 hair models – Momoshiro, Fuji and Yuki. Momoshiro smiled widely, Yuki shyly and Fuji forcedly. _This isn't going according to what I've planned! __I should have trimmed my hair before I came. Well, I doubt it would be anything too bad, so just endure…endure…_

* * *

Now we can't have Fuji bullying everyone, could we :D  
(Dances around)

Fuji: (eyes opened) Saa...what do we have here?  
Illustriousopaline: eh...bye all! Got to run! Reviews neeeeee (fades out)


	6. A thick and pink love letter?

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing  
**Warnings:** OCC-ness  
**A/N:** _italics_ means thoughts or emphasis on that particular word. I knew I shouldn't have started a story without thinking ahead! -growls- Hopefully, I could find my way through this without disappointing too many of this fic's readers. Cheers.

* * *

-That night after the session-

"… hmm…I wonder what would come out of this?" a honey-brown hair boy mumbled to himself as he handled something in his hand very carefully and lovingly – something small, something square, something that stuck fear in the hearts of the victims.

"Must remember to run over to the bookshop tomorrow to pick up some stuff too…"

* * *

-The following Monday-

"Isn't it a pity Fuji-sempai is absent from school today? He missed out on all the delicious sushi Taka-san prepared for lunch." Momoshiro remarked to no one in particular as he started preparing for the afternoon practice. Ryoma snorted, recalling a very happy Momoshiro volunteering to finish the absent Fuji-sempai's share. _So who is he kidding?_

"Hehe, maybe he got sick after drinking his own Spicy Tea nyah!" At this, both Eiji and Momoshiro chuckled evilly as they shared the same mental image of a haggard-looking Fuji throwing up repeatedly in the toilet.

"I hope he's not that foolish to finish _all_ that Tea in one go! No matter how beneficial Inui might say it is for our body, an overdose is not good! Maybe we should visit him after …" Oishi droned on as he let himself being pushed out of the clubroom by his partner.

"Enough worrying, Oishi! Let's go practice! There's a new move I wanna try nyah!"

Shaking his head at his worried sempai, Momoshiro could not help but grinned – thinking how well the nick name "Mother Hen" suited Oishi-sempai and how disappointed Fuji-sempai was when he was unable to share the Tea he made. Still grinning, he opened his locker and found something that made his grin grew wider. _Love letters! And there are four of them!_

Waving them around, he exclaimed to Ryoma proudly, "Hey Echizen, look! I got 4 love letters!"

"…that's nice." the young boy replied indifferently.

"Ha, you're just jealous because you didn't receive any!"

Without pausing in the task of tying his shoelaces, Ryoma tilted his head to the dustbin which was full of … "NANI! You received so many letters!"

Momoshiro's face fell a little at the miserable comparison between his 4 letters to Ryoma's one full bin of letters. Nevertheless, he did receive 4, which most likely beat his rival, Kaidoh. From what Momoshiro had observed, Kaidoh never seemed to receive any. This time round, Momoshiro had an upper hand. _Muahahahhaa!_

He changed slowly, waiting for his rival to come before he opened the letters; he wanted to see how a jealous Mamushi looks like.

"...5 sets of push-ups and just 10km will do for today. There is a 90 percent chance that Tezuka would order us to run at least 50 laps today. So don't overexert yourself..." Momoshiro perked up, that was Inui-sempai's voice. And there's only ONE person who is so insane about training on the team - Kaidoh.

Sure enough, Inui and Kaidoh walked into the clubroom, getting ready for practice.

Momoshiro stood up and hold his letters high, saying in a particularly loud voice, "HA, Echizen, I got 4...ahem...4 love letters today! And one is especially thick! I think it contains the girl's pictures! Boy, it sure feels like she sent all her photos to me - from baby to teen!"

Ryoma continued doing his stuff, used to his sempai's boasting. But he was a little interested - just a little- when Momoshiro said something about photos. He looked up and saw the thick pink envelope that he was waving about...yes, it was the same one. Ryoma himself had received it too. But he had dumped it along with the other mails. He snorted, _that girl must be pretty desperate_. "I received one like that too, Momo-sempai." Such a simple statement burst Momoshiro's bubble of joy with immediate effect.

Momoshiro scowled at the pink envelope, voicing out what the others were thinking, "This is a love-hungry girl… to send photos to two handsome boys…and to think one of them is a freshman!"

"Hmmm…seems like I got it too…" the Data-man said as he opened his locker to take out a new notebook to record all his spyi-…er- observations. He separated the pink envelope from all the usual hate mails he received. (Basically those hate mails were from the victims of his infamous juice. It was easy to tell that they are hate mails too, because most of them have a 'DIE' written on the envelopes)

"WHAT? She must be really desperate! Erm…well…" Momoshiro could not bring himself to finish the statement as he suddenly felt goosebumps on his left side. (Inui was standing at his left) "Ah…well, at least I don't think she's _that_ desperate to go and find some_thing _like Mamushi!" Momoshiro laughed nervously as he sneaked a glance at his creepy sempai. His laughter stopped short as he looked past Inui's shoulder to see… Kaidoh biting back a triumphant smile and holding up something – something that was very thick and very pink.

"….! This girl is one helluva desperate!" Momoshiro roared as he tore open the envelope, determined to find out who was the girl. A moment of silence filled the room as everyone looked at him, waiting for him to announce who she was. To their surprise, Momoshiro just took a look at the photos, blushed red, stuffed them back into the envelope and hid it in his bag.

"I would advise you to retrieve it back from the bin Echizen." he muttered, semi-hiding his red face in the locker.

"…Hmmm? Is the girl that gorgeous?"

"Do it Echizen! Or you'll regret it!" Momoshiro bellowed at the confused boy, banging his locker with his fists.

Meanwhile, the other two were silently opening their envelopes, curious to see what had triggered Momoshiro so badly was. Ryoma turned to look at them, his eyebrow rose as he saw both of them turning a pretty pink, stuffing the envelopes into their bags and mumbling curses. (Though, Kaidoh was actually _hissing_ curses…)

"I would also advise you to get it back. There is a 100 percent chance that you will regret it if you don't." Ryoma, sighing, dragged his feet over to the full bin and dug the dreaded pink envelope out. Without giving his sempais the satisfaction of seeing his reaction, he threw it into his bag.

"Aren't you going to open it?"

"…don't wanna. It's practice time anyway."

"…!"

* * *

"5 laps for every minute that you are late, everyone." Tezuka stated as the 4 Regulars stepped onto the courts.

"Hehe, lucky we were on time nyah! You guys are 10 minutes late, so that will be 50 laps!" Eiji did a small victory dance as he laughed at the late-comers.

"…5 extra laps for you, Kikumaru."

"Hoi! …...what! I have to run too? And what do you by extra!"

"I said _everyone_ because those on time didn't take the initiative to call them. And because you gloat over their misfortune."

Kikumaru stood rigid for a moment, his brain slowly registering the fact that Oishi and him had to run laps and thathe had to run an extra 5 laps. _That will be a total of 55 laps nyah! Tezuka is not human…definitely not._

"…Well?" The stern buchou crossed his arms and glared at the stunned red-head. The last thing he expected was Eiji sticking his tongue out at him before running off shouting, "I'm going to tell on meanie Tezuka-buchou to his wife!"

"…………5 more laps for you, Kikumaru!"

* * *

After practice, Ryoma approached his creepy sempai, "…you can be a fortune-teller already, sempai."

"Is that so? Well, let me predict one more thing for you." Inui adjusted his thick glasses and scribbled something in his notebook, "You will be itching to kill tonight."

"…I'm always itching to kill my baka oyaji."

"Not that kind of killing… the _real bloodthirsty _kind."

"…huh?"

"You would understand after you opened the envelope."

"…so it's a cursed envelope huh, sempai?"

"You probably can say that."

Ryoma walked away, baffled, but his curiosity about the envelope's contents increased just a little. Well, he would find out tonight – after he satisfied his hunger for more tennis at the street courts, that is.

* * *

Meanwhile, Momoshiro has sped all the way home and locked himself in his room. Spilling the photos on his bed, he stared at them and groaned, trying to think who the culprit was. _Could it be Taka-san? He came only after they finished their laps… but he said he was kept in by the teacher… It smells of Fuji-sempai's doing! But… he's not in school today…_

He gingerly picked up the nearest photo and grimaced at the memory that flooded his mind upon seeing it – the manly Momoshiro with long curly blond hair with a stupid grin stuck on.

_(Flashback)_

Everything was going fine. He had learnt more new styles; styles he had seen in the magazines and he was proud that he carried them off well. Until…"Momo-kun? I want you to wear this wig. Although Yuki has long hair, but you have different facial shape. And I want to demonstrate what hair style best suit your facial shape." Ignoring Momoshiro's weak attempts of protest, Hanamura-sensai forcefully pinned the wig in place. He knew he looked ridiculous with that curly blond wig, mainly because the class burst out laughing the very next second, but he managed to smile...

_(End of Flashback)_

Momoshiro groaned out loud as he went through the rest of the photos – him with red hair that were bun up at either sides; him with thick wavy hair all the way past his waist, the fringe half covering his left eye; him waving his arms trying to prevent the sensei from pinning a blob of frizzy orange hair; him fingering two big fat braids; him trying to smile like Fuji-sempai as he tried on a hairstyle that was not unlike the sempai's and many more girlish hairstyles that _did not_ suit him at all.

"Man, this person should at least take some pictures with me in short hair!" he muttered as he shuffled through the photos, trying to search for one that had captured him looking good. Not finding a single one, he sat back on his heels and said out loud, "This photographer sucks."

Many streets away, alone in the room, Fuji sneezed. "Gee, someone just scolded me."

* * *

**Additional A/N:** All right, I have prepared buckets and fire extinguishers. To contain those tears of disappointment from my beloved readers and to protect myself from the flames. 


End file.
